Professor Robert Bohrer prides himself in giving his law students a good left-brain workout. Law school isn't about making lawyers as a means to an end, but rather strengthening one's analytical skills in the philosophical sense.

Companies are streamlining, merging and cutting costs. Recent economic developments are putting pressure on businesses nationwide to reduce expenses. Among the top controllable outgoings for a company is corporate travel.

RAMONA , It's been nearly 90 years since Ramona had a bank to call its own. Last week, Ramona National Bank opened for business at 1315 Main Street, the same site once occupied by San Diego Trust & Savings Bank.

The timing couldn't have been worse for the president's Commission on Social Security Reform and for House Majority Leader Dick Armey to reveal their proposals for revamping America's financial safety net.

California has all the electricity it needs from now until 2004. However, customers may have to pay more for that power, and there is a chance that the state could experience a shortage similar to the 2000 energy crisis starting in 2005.

In tandem with the merger of Active.com, the La Jolla-based online registration service, and Myteam.com, a Massachusetts online service for amateur sports teams, investors from both dot-coms pumped in an additional $11 million into the newly combined enti

Bill Keller, co-owner of Le Travel Store in Downtown San Diego, knows exactly how the events of Sept. 11 affected his business this holiday season. Fewer people are traveling, and as a result he's lost customers.

When you hear that a new version of an "Arrogant Bastard" is being "released" soon, you might automatically think "incarceration." In a recent media announcement, Stone Brewing Co. pointed this out itself.

Hank Nordhoff has been waiting a long time for Gen-Probe Inc. to carry its own weight. A recent announcement by Gen-Probe's parent company, Tokyo-based Chugai Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., of its merger with the Japanese unit of Swiss drug maker F. Hoffmann-L

When terrorists led by Osama bin Laden attacked the United States on Sept. 11, their first target was the nation's most prominent symbol of its industrial and economic might, the World Trade Center in New York.

Debate Over Voice-Over Internet Protocol Benefits. Among the newest, most talked-about technology innovations these days is the use of Internet-type networks, local and wide area networks to make telephone calls. This way of making telephone calls is refe

With the continuing development and expansion of the biotech industry in San Diego, architects and contractors have been jockeying for position in the race to design and build in this highly lucrative market.

Buzztime Entertainment Inc. could have the first phase of its roll-out to digital cable customers next February. The Carlsbad company, a subsidiary of NTN Communications Inc., recently signed its first deal to have a cable operator license Buzztime's triv

News of an attempted takeover of Discovery Partners International Inc. caused some excitement on Wall Street, which then tapered off as the week continued. Still, analysts remain sanguine about the future of the publicly traded biotechnology firm.

Since 1940, we have used as much of the earth's mineral resources as all of humanity's previous generations combined. Sustainable design is an approach to building that protects the natural environment and creates healthy indoor spaces. Although sustainab

Downtown Residences Designed for the Urban Village. Residential design in Downtown San Diego has to meet several objectives; more residents have to be accommodated on smaller pieces of land, and pedestrians' needs have to be met.

San Diego workers who lost their jobs due to the economic downturn caused by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks can find some strategies for obtaining a new job from a free resource booklet, "Getting Back on Track," produced by Manpower Staffing Services.

Fashion students at Palomar College are stepping away form the norm and implementing technology into their design process. Yes, the students still use tape measures and sewing machines, but they are also taking advantage of software programs and computers

Less than a month after its initial public offering, dj Orthopedics, the maker of surgical appliances and orthopedic devices based in Vista, was the target of two class-action suits, including one by the San Diego law firm Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Le

Some may call it shameless promotion, but for Lee Silber there aren't many boundaries in self-promotion. Silber, who is the author of "Self-Promotion For the Creative Person," said whenever he scouts local bookstores for his own books, it's a chance for a

Monday, December 3

In 1985, the Delaware Supreme Court issued a blockbuster decision in Smith vs. Van Gorkom. In that case, the court held that directors were liable for the excess of the value of the corporation over the price received in an acquisition , a sum of many mil

In the hours and days following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in late 1941, Americans were reeling in shock and horror. Many feared an invasion by enemy forces. Rumors ran rampant. Families shivered with the uncertainty of impending war and the busi

WD-40, the San Diego-based maker of industrial
lubricants and other consumer products, received a $75 million investment from Prudential Capital
Group, the investment management business of Prudential Financial, and a subsidiary of Prudential
Insura

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has just removed a 900-pound gorilla from the backs of acquisition-minded companies. But if those companies aren't careful or are unlucky, the gorilla could come back and attack with a vengeance.

Most consumers will see little or no change in their electric bills from a recent federal mandate that California's energy clearinghouse stop giving the state Department of Water Resources preferential treatment. However, industrial users that buy their e

Smokestacks, storage tanks and other landmarks loom in the distance as a helmsman navigates the entrance channel to the Port of Palm Beach. In reality the ship doesn't exist. And the port, though it is laid out like the real thing in Florida, exists only

With the immediate threat of a hotel tax increase behind them, the San Diego County Hotel-Motel Association recently reversed its position on a ballot measure that would also affect future tax increases.

In the current funding environment, many privately held companies are struggling to find the cash needed to execute their business plans. Many of these companies are finding that funding of any sort is simply unavailable.

The terrible events of Sept. 11, bringing as they did an end to our national sense of safety at home, raise some disturbing questions: How do individuals live in our midst while plotting the destruction of our country? How did they get here in the first p

County officials and state Sen. Steve Peace are still trying to hammer out what a proposed superagency for San Diego County would look like. The parties will revisit the issue some time after the new year.

The Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College governing board didn't have to look far for the new president of Cuyamaca College. They found their replacement about a half-hour northwest of the campus at Mesa College.

Advanced Tissue Sciences Offers Hope for the Heart. San Diego-based Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. recently said it will begin late-stage studies of NBI-34060, an experimental long-term treatment for chronic insomnia in adults.

Companies often have a vision of how to maximize long-term shareholder value, but may not realize strategic acquisitions can play a key role in achieving that vision. The first step in developing an acquisition plan is to identify both your company's stre

Remember Monday mornings up until a few months ago? Those were the days that, with our morning coffee and newspaper and/or televised business report, we would learn about the players in the latest episode of "Monday Morning Merger Mania." With the overal

VISTA , Like many other cities, officials here are gearing up for a revitalized downtown. The city is working on transforming a 45-acre area into an $80 million entertainment district with retail, restaurants and a theater.